Tantalizing trimmings build up the bird

Wednesday

Nov 21, 2012 at 12:01 AM

The week before Thanksgiving found Barbara Thoman Curtis in her Ormond Beach apartment with a 500-page holiday cookbook, a pad of Post-its — and two boxes of artichoke hearts pounding to get out of her freezer.

DENISE O'TOOLE KELLYFOOD EDITOR

The week before Thanksgiving found Barbara Thoman Curtis in her Ormond Beach apartment with a 500-page holiday cookbook, a pad of Post-its — and two boxes of artichoke hearts pounding to get out of her freezer. "I was just sitting here going through recipes for side dishes," she said, surprised by a call from a food writer wanting to talk about just that subject. Curtis was using the sticky notes to mark pages showing dishes she might try. "I think right now I'm looking for something with artichokes in it because it's something I don't use very often. And I have some," she said. For cooks who, like Curtis, stick to the traditional roast turkey for the entree, side dishes are the fun part of Thanksgiving. "I think that the uniqueness of the a meal is often the side dishes," she said. There's only so much experimentation one can do with a whole bird or a big roast "but you can get creative with the side dishes." Curtis often gets her inspiration from cookbooks. "I have quite a collection of recipes. I'm embarrassed because at my age I'm still buying cookbooks, but I still am. I do enjoy getting a new cookbook and reading it front to back," said the 74-year-old co-pastor of the greater Daytona Beach area's Community of Christ congregation. Church services for the moment take place at Curtis' home, after the congregation was forced by declining membership to leave its South Daytona building. She said she cooks dinner for the nearly 20 congregants every Sunday and she'll be making Thanksgiving dinner for family members who live in Palm Coast and Daytona Beach. Curtis also has been known to create festive side dishes all her own. This year she submitted one — Yiayia's Holiday Confetti Scalloped Corn (recipe at left) — for The News-Journal's Holiday Recipe Contest, winners of which will be announced on this page Dec. 5. Perhaps in proof of the proposition that the side dish is what creative cooks like best about holiday dinners, it was the most popular category in the contest. The side dish is also an area in which this year Alison Ladman, who writes about food and develops recipes for the Associated Press, chose to turn traditions on their heads: frying the stuffing into patties, crusting the sweet potatoes with herbs. (Recipes at left) Linda Tompkins of Port Orange indulges her Thanksgiving muse by jazzing up the cranberry sauce. The retiree has been doing it every since she came up with her recipe for Cranapple Walnut Smash about eight years ago. She entered the recipe (at left) in The News-Journal's contest this year. "This is an easy, easy side dish that can be made for two to 100 people depending on the occasion. There are no real measurements. It's mostly to taste," she said.

Though Tompkins and her husband, Wolf, are having Thanksgiving dinner with her daughter's family in New Smyrna Beach this year, the colorful side dish will be on the table as usual. "I'm absolutely bringing it," she said.